Interviews

SarahPerlmutter

Q: Hello, Sarah. Thank you for bringing all of the SciKick team together. How are you today?

A: I'm doing well! I'm excited to share a little about myself with SciKick readers!

Q: And I bet they are even more excited to read your answers. First off, shall we talk about you and writing? When did you first start writing?

A: I love to write science fiction, specifically post-apocalyptic cyberpunk like The Deathless trilogy. I have been writing ever since I can remember, but I didn't start writing for readers until college when I majored in Creative Writing. After years of writing only short stories, I dived into writing my first novel in 2013. That novel became I AM DEATHLESS and I've been writing in that universe ever since.

Q: What are your writer's best practices – doing character profiles, maps, visualization, tai chi, anything?

A: Best practices differ for everyone, I think; but I always like to create character profiles and secret Pinterest boards to gather inspiration. I like to keep all my notes together in one notebook and use that to outline. The trick is to find what works best for you.

Q: Definitely. When and in what setting do you write best?

A: Weekends are my writing times. I like to go to a local coffee shop to write so I don't have any distractions, but if I'm at home I like to write in the kitchen in front of an open window.

Q: Is there anything in particular you find difficult to write about? 

A: Love, actually, is something I always struggle with. I have had a fairytale love story in real life, so I try to use it as inspiration when I can. I'm not sure why it's so difficult for me to write love, but I think it has something to do with the fact that love is different for everyone and a unique experience for everyone.

Q: What piece of advice has been most helpful to you since you started?

A: Honestly, the most helpful piece of advice I ever heard was to remember that first drafts are allowed to be terrible. You're creating a mess so that you can tidy it up into something meaningful later. All good writing is really good editing.

Q: What do you enjoy more – writing or having written?

A: It depends on the scene for me, but I love that feeling of accomplishment after putting a scene together and the anticipation for sharing it with readers.

Q: What genre would you write in, if it wasn't sci-fi?

A: I'm writing a YA contemporary right now, so I guess contemporary. But I have always loved fantasy too and I always will. I've had a fantasy idea knocking around in my brain for about 20 years now (wow, time flies) that I'm hoping I will actually write one of these days.

Q: That's cool! And what about reading? What three genres do you read the most?

A: Sci-fi is number one, then contemporary, and then fantasy. I'm pretty consistent. :-P

Q: Is there anything you can think of that you would love to read, only it hasn't been written yet?

A: That's how I came up with the idea for my Deathless Trilogy protagonist, Isla Blume. I wanted to read a heroine character like me who was what I always wanted to be too: a smart scientist who could change the world.

Then I wanted to read a book in English and Spanish, so I started writing the contemporary I'm working on now.

I'm sure the more I read, the more I will crave books that don't exist yet.